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Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Theory of Human commmunication

For Dr. Gillette's exam we wrote about your understanding of human
communication. I am posting my exam for my fellow classmates and future
CICS grads to read. Enjoy
Patrick Jackson

Change in Communication Tone Due to Change in Audience

Abstract:
Four
different topics will be discussed. The first two topics involve one on
one communication with feedback and without feedback. The last two
topics involve one to many communication with feedback and without
feedback. This discussion will conclude with a chart.
In
communication, there are many aspects to study and understand. The idea
that we have “theories” of communication is very interesting to me.
Little John’s definition of a theory is as follows: “The theories or
organized knowledge of a field, developed by generations of previous
scholars, provide a starting point for understanding that field.” To me,
this means ideas build from one generation to the next.
I want to
discuss the way people communicate with each other and how that
communication changes depending on the speaker and the audience. The two
main areas I plan to cover are communication between two people and
communication between many people. People communicate differently
depending on what is being said, and to whom it is being spoken.One on One Communication:
One
on one communication is the first of the “flavors” of communication I
will discuss. I define one on one as any communication that is not
intended to be consumed by an audience. On occasion, we do hear as an
audience, one on one communication and it is beautiful work that we may
never have known.
I will discuss communication with and without
feedback. Let us talk about communication with feedback for now. Almost
always, one on one communication with feedback takes the form of
conversation. “One of the issues with human communication lies with the
process of getting information from sender to receiver (Lyon, 2011).” In
a conversation, information transfer is very easy because it is one on
one and because the sender receives feedback from the receiver. Also,
there are extra cues available in a conversation, such as body language,
that help convey information faster. Body language is not a requirement
for a conversation (i.e. telephone calls), but it helps.
When
speaking to only one other person, I believe information is transferred
faster. This is due to a more personalized message that transfers more
information faster. For example, if you were talking to many people, you
might say, “they” when referring to teachers, so as not to single out
any one teacher. In one on one communication, however, you feel at ease
and refer to one individual.
One on one communication without
feedback is a more difficult idea, and therefore, a more difficult
explanation. Imagine you needed to pass information to someone but could
get no feedback. You would have to imagine issues that might arise,
while the second person reads the information. Therefore, you must give
more content than in a feedback conversation. Some examples of no
feedback one on one information transfers are: notes, personal maps,
diaries, and personal memos. A very good, no feedback message should
still make the reader feel as if they are being spoken to directly. In
the diary of Anne Frank, she writes as if no one will ever read what she
has written. Yet, anyone who reads the book comes away with the feeling
that she wrote her diary with them in mind. It takes very good writing
for her to convey such a beautiful message over so much time. In
general, I theorize that it takes twice as much information to convey a
message with no feedback versus one that does utilize feedback.One to Many Communication:
In one to many communication, I will discuss the same two points as
before (with feedback and without feedback), but with the understanding
that we have a speaker and an audience. With the use of technology we
can send our information to more people than ever before, and in more
and more cases, feedback is becoming a major part of the way we
communicate through technology.
Regarding one to many communication
with feedback, consider the example of a manager speaking to his
employees. After all, “a boss speaking to his employees is very close to
speaking to an audience (McGlothlin, 2011).” When a manager states an
issue in the work place, his/her employees respond with feedback to
correct the issue. Audiences that give feedback may need less
information from the speaker because he or she can tie up loose ends
after receiving feedback from an audience. A boss may ask his employees,
“Does that red light on the equipment mean we have a problem.” He may
receive the response, “No, that equipment is working correctly,” or
“Yes, it is broken.” Without feedback, he would also have to state a
solution along with the original problem statement. Feedback means
faster message transfer.
Without modern technology, one to many
communication without feedback would be very difficult. A great example
of this is broadcast news. Because there is no feedback and the audience
is so large, they must give much more information to transfer the
message. Some people have great vision and can transfer their idea to
others quickly. An example of this was Steve Jobs who was quoted by
Peters saying, “Effective visions are inspiring.” Jobs almost always
worked on projects in secret, meaning he received little or no public
feedback. Yet, he could understand what people wanted and delivered.
Creating a great message in one to many communication with little or no
feedback mean that you must understand your audience very well, or give
lots of extra information.Conclusions:

Feedback

Audience

With

Without

Many

Example: boss to workers

Example: broadcast news

One

Example: conversation

Example: diary

Each form takes a different set of skills to master. The trick is to be good in all forms of communication at the same time.